The 21 year year old Buckeye claims he was fresher at the end of that game and was less tired over the course of the season partially because he has been sleeping, playing video games and writing emails on his laptop inside a hypoxic altitude simulaton training system for over a year.

So don't blame departed U-M defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann, blame the 6x6x8 foot tent Gonzalez places over his bed. The device sucks air from the chamber and removes oxygen so Gonzalez feels like he's at an altitude of 8,000 feet. With the oxygen reduced from 20.9% to 13%, the thin air is pumped back inside the tent which Gonzalez climbs in then zips shut.

The idea behind this is to increase the number of red blood cells via prolonged exposure to simulated altitude. That in turn improves the body's ability to carry oxygen which increases endurance and shortens recovery time.

Even though his parents and doctors thought he was full of shit were skeptical, last summer he ponied up $5K for the device. According to the article linked above, Gonzalez was told he was the first college football player to use the thing (gee, there's a shocker).

Gonzalez spends 10 to 12 hours a day in his little tent and this month even lugged it to the Columbus hotel were the Bucks are staying during preseason camp. Coach Tressel not only gave Michael Jackson Gonzalez permission, but the wide-out also scored a larger corner room so the thing would fit.

Hey, guess you can't blame Tressel if it helps beat Michigan. Although, how far has our program fallen when we're now losing to camping gear?

Ed. Note: Bonus points for any readers who got Benny's Dennis Miller-esque SEINFELD reference under the top picture.

BTW, the part about him being a 4.0 student was left out. I know you guys like to bash OSU, but he is the anti-Clarett and we are proud of him off the field, in the classroom and 87 days from now in Columbus. Oh yeah, last year in Ann Arbor and in Columbus in 2004 too.

Anon 5: You're right about the shame in not including the 4.0. C'mon guys, how can you possibly leave out an obvious joke about a 4.0 student with a major in philosophy at tOSU? I mean, the thing writes itself!

moops - term used on the show during a trivial pursuit game between George, and "the bubble boy" that lived in a bubble for heatlh reasons. On one of the cards the game stated in error that the moops and not the moors were a warring people from the past.

Justin. I think the blood doping that is illegal has to do with the process of removing your blood, storing it for a period of time & replacing it naturally, and the the day of the event re-injectin the blood into your system. Greater amt of red blood cells. I can't think of the Scandinavian runner who was successful in 1972-76 Olympics. Great Blog. Go Irish.

Jim - This has the same effect...it increases the amount of red blood cells resulting in more oxygen in your blood. Not the same as blood doping, but same results. Not sure if NCAA regulations are up-to-date on this kind of "doping". I just called it blood doping for lack of a better term.

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